Review: Jeff & Some Aliens “Jeff & Some Jeffs”

Jeff & Some Aliens delivers one of its finest episodes in “Jeff & Some Jeffs.” As the title hints, this Jeff & Some Aliens entry is marked by a proliferation of Jeffs (Brett Gelman). Well, sort of.

Spoilers Below

As “Jeff & Some Jeffs” opens, Jeff and his alien pals Sammy, Jimmy, and Ted (Alessandro Minoli) are pulling through a Taco Temple drive through. Taco Temple bears an uncanny resemblance to real-world Tex Mex fast food joint. The alien trio and Jeff argue and bicker.

As occasionally insufferable as Jeff finds Ted, Jimmy, and Sammy, they feel he’s difficult in his own right. Thus the aliens attempt to show Jeff what living with him is like. Enter extraterrestrial tech. An innocent enough looking box temporarily lends those in a certain vicinity the personality of a select individual. Jimmy, Sammy, and Ted use this to give themselves Jeff’s personality. However, their experiment backfires when Jeff simply has a blast playing bongos and getting stoned with the aliens three. Jeff it seems rather enjoys hanging out with himself.

Sammy, Ted, and Jimmy receive some much-needed shore leave and return to their home planet. This creates hilarity as their intended vacation goes awry. Back on Earth, Jeff gets the idea to use the personality machine to turn a video store clerk into “Jeff” all to clear a massive late fee. Unfortunately, he lends the entire population his personality. So what’s a planet of Jeffs like? Pure chaos. It’s an attack of the clones, but everyone merely wants to get high, watch movies, and eat junk food.

Comedy ensues on two fronts. There’s the world of Jeffs which remains even funnier than vanilla Jeff. While Jeff’s antics are entertaining, and he’s at the same time a slob, incompetent, irreverent, and adorable, seeing everyone mimic his thoughts and actions is delightful. An elderly woman at a gas station reenacts a crude sex motion with a gas pump. A small child standing in a grocery store looks at the empty shelves and asks his father if they are going to starve. Around him everyone fights over chips while a display of organic kale sits untouched.

Back home Ted, Sammy, and Jimmy’s vacation doesn’t go as planned. Sammy sets out to mingle with the alien ladies but he’s chased by a pack of angry Azurians. Ted returns home to his cats which are decidedly extraterrestrial. Jimmy’s visit to his wife and child doesn’t quite go as planned. Sure, the Azurians may be green-skinned. And yes they sport antenna from their heads. But overall they’re essentially the same as humans, but with advanced technology and different physiology. Their wants and desires, as well as struggles, mimic those of humans. It’s also funny to see what they find odd, like the fact that milk comes from cow’s nipples.

The world of Jeffs presents a fun what-if scenario of how a world of Jeffs would seem. Although on a small scale Jeff enjoys his Azurian trio as basically himself, the gag gets old when expanded to the entire world. One particular inclusion I liked was the United States President: it’s a female. I really like the decision to make the President a woman. Animation continues to excel and even features one of my favorite series scenes: a psychedelic snippet with Jeff. There’s also a neat segment that lampoons the overly happy Disney trope with peaceful wildlife floating through the sky; a pack of butterflies and hummingbirds standout against a vibrant pink, purple, and orange sky.

“Jeff & Some Jeffs” delivers on the laughs, story, and aesthetic.